The present disclosure relates to additive manufacturing systems for printing or otherwise producing three-dimensional (3D) parts and support structures. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) system that includes a viscosity pump which allows larger sized parts and/or denser parts to be built in a layer-by-layer manner.
Additive manufacturing systems are used to print or otherwise build 3D parts from digital representations of the 3D parts (e.g., AMF and STL format files) using one or more additive manufacturing techniques. Examples of commercially available additive manufacturing techniques include extrusion-based techniques, jetting, selective laser sintering, high speed sintering, powder/binder jetting, electron-beam melting, and stereolithographic processes. One such stereolithographic process is a continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) system. For each of these techniques, the digital representation of the 3D part is initially sliced into multiple horizontal layers. For each sliced layer, a tool path is then generated, which provides instructions for the particular additive manufacturing system to print the given layer.
In another example, in one stereolithography-based additive manufacturing system, a 3D part is printed from a digital representation of the 3D part in a layer-by-layer manner by projecting light across a vat of photo-curable resin. The projected light in various examples is provided via a projector, such as a DLP (Digital Light Processing) ultraviolet projection image, or is drawn, such as via a laser. For each layer, the projected light provides a light image representing the layer on the surface of the liquid resin, which cures and solidifies the drawn light pattern. After the layer is completed, the system's platform is lowered by a single layer increment. A fresh portion of the resin then recoats the previous layer, and the light is projected across the fresh resin to pattern the next layer, which joins the previous layer. This process is then repeated for each successive layer. Afterwards, the uncured resin may be cleaned, and the resulting 3D part may undergo subsequent curing.